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Posted by: Rick Cooper | July 17, 2017 Comments Off on Summer 2017 “Shop at the Dock” tours in Newport and Warrenton show consumers how to buy in-season seafood |

Have you ever wanted to buy seafood right from the boat, but weren’t sure what questions to ask or what to look for? Have you ever stood at a seafood market staring at all the choices but not been sure what was local or in season?

If so, this summer is your chance to learn more about buying seafood. Experts with Oregon Sea Grant and the Oregon State University Extension Service will demystify the process during free, guided dockside tours in Newport and Warrenton that connect seafood lovers with commercial fishermen.

Oregon Sea Grant and Extension have been offering the tours – called Shop at the Dock – every summer in Newport since 2014, but this is the first year the event has expanded to Warrenton. During the tours, participants learn what seafood is in season, how it’s caught, whether it’s sustainable, and how to identify and buy high-quality fish and shellfish. Last year, the tours drew more than 350 people, said Kaety Jacobson, an Oregon Sea Grant marine fisheries specialist with Oregon State University’s Extension Service.

Dates for the remaining Newport tours are July 21 and 28, and Aug. 4, 11 and 18, 2017 with groups departing from dock 5 at 9:30 a.m., 10 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. each day. The 90-minute tours are free and on a first-come, first-served basis. In Newport, registration is required only for groups of five or more by calling 541-574-6534 ext. 57427.

In Warrenton, the remaining tours will take place Sept. 15, 2017, at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. and will include a tour of the Skipanon Brand Seafood cannery. Participants will also learn where they can find locally caught fish in local markets. Tours will start at the Warrenton Marina near the harbormaster’s office at 550 N.E. Harbor Place. For the Warrenton event, registration by phone is required for everyone and is on a first-come, first-served basis.To register, call 503-325-8573.

At both sites, participants are advised to wear comfortable walking shoes with traction, arrive 15 minutes early, and bring cash and a cooler with ice. For disability accommodations, please call the numbers above.

Joe Phillips, of fishing vessel Triggerfish, shows off an albacore tuna during the 2016 Shop at the Dock tours, which were organized by Oregon Sea Grant and Oregon State University’s Extension Service. (Photo by Lynn Ketchum, OSU)

Climate change: Some people feel overwhelmed by it, others argue about it. Oregon Sea Grant researchers, Extension specialists and communicators, meanwhile are working to better understand what a changing climate is already doing to the ocean and coast – and helping coastal communities better prepare themselves for higher and more damaging waves, stronger storms, rising sea level and other anticipated changes.

The latest issue of OSG’s Confluence magazine examines some of the issues coastal Oregon faces, and ways in which Sea Grant is helping citizens and scientists address them, from anticipating the effects of climate change to building resilience in the face of them – and better understanding how people with different backgrounds and philosophies can even communicate about the topic.

Other articles in this issue include

Profiles of several Oregon Sea Grant Scholars, and how their student experiences in Sea Grant internships and fellowships helped prepare them for careers in marine science and public policy

A new app that helps coastal visitors identify critters they find on the beach – and contribute to citizen science by reporting them.

A study of how juvenile Dungeness crab move through coastal waters as they mature, and an exhibit at the Hatfield Marine Science Center that explains what scientists are learning, and how it might benefit the crab fishery.

The three-minute video features a very hungry Reuben the Octopus, along with Bill Hanshumaker, Oregon Sea Grant’s marine public education specialist at Oregon State University’s Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, Oregon.

For popular seafood menu items like Dungeness crab, there’s good reason to make sure that there is a healthy supply to meet demand. That’s just what the Oregon C.R.A.B. Project is meant to do. This budding research partnership is looking for ways to improve the long-term sustainability of the state’s crab fishery while building relationships with the fishing industry and local community.

C.R.A.B., which stands for Collaborative Research to Assess Bycatch, is funded by NOAA Fisheries’ Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program and the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission. Researcher Noelle Yochum from Oregon State University is collaborating with local commercial and recreational fishermen to tag female and small male crabs that are caught and thrown back because, by Oregon law, they cannot be sold. Through this research, Noelle hopes to capture estimates of survival rates for these crabs along with an understanding of potential ways to increase survival.

Noelle’s collaboration with Newport crab fishermen was the subject of our cover story in last summer’s edition of Confluence magazine. The crab bycatch collaboration is one of many outcomes of a long-term Oregon Sea Grant effort, led by coastal Extension Sea Grant specialists, to bring the fishing fleet and scientists together for mutual understanding and benefit.

Planning a visit to the Oregon coast? Tuck our “What’s Fresh and When?” flyer into your cooler so you know what kind of seafood you’re likely to find at local markets, restaurants – and on the docks.

Compiled by Oregon Sea Grant’s Newport-based fisheries specialist, Kaety Hildenbrand, the annual guide lists commercial fishing season dates for all major species caught in Oregon waters: chinook and coho salmon, Pacific halibut, Dungeness crab, Albacore tuna, and pink shrimp – as well as a reminder that flounder, sole, rockfish and lingcod are available throughout the year.

Fishermen in Newport and several other Oregon ports sell their catch, iced at sea, right off the boat; local seafood can also be found at fish markets and local groceries, and many coastal restaurants.

People who visit the bay fronts of Oregon’s harbors often see working boats at dock and wonder about them and about the types of commercial fishing being done along the coast. A series of 10 Newport’s Commercial Fisheries signs are now available to answer some of those questions. Not only can the bay front signs be viewed as you walk along the dock, they can also be found online:

The causes and effects of hypoxia have been confounding marine scientists since the 1970s, when so-called “dead zones” first started appearing in oceans and large lakes. Currently there are more than 400 dead zones worldwide.

How did this happen, and how can it be fixed?

As Nathan Gilles, Oregon Sea Grant’s 2011 Science Communication Fellow, spent time with Sea Grant-funded researchers Francis Chan, Lorenzo Ciannelli, and Stephen Brandt, he uncovered a rich and complex story. That story is revealed in Oregon Sea Grant’s new publication, Hypoxia:How Is It Affecting Ocean Life, and Why?

Wondering what seafood will be in season when you visit the Oregon coast? Oregon Sea Grant’s Kaety Hildenbrand has compiled a handy, one-page guide to local seafood availability for 2011, based on harvest estimates and commercial seasons set by fisheries regulators.

Right now, for instance, you should be able to find fresh, locally caught Chinook salmon, Dungeness crab and pink shrimp, as well as flounder, sole, rockfish and lingcod (generally available year-round).

June should bring the appearance of albacore tuna and, late in the month, Pacific halibut, depending on when the fish make their appearance.

Fresh, locally caught seafood is available in markets and restaurants up and down the coast, and direct from the fishermen in many coastal ports. A family trip to the docks with an ice-filled cooler can be a great way to learn more about where your dinner comes from, how it’s harvested and the people who catch it.

The guide, “What’s Fresh and When in 2011” is ready to download and print, and suitable for hanging on the refrigerator door or tucking in the glove compartment for your next trip to the coast. Download it here in .pdf format.

Hildenbrand is Sea Grant’s Extension marine fisheries educator, based in Newport, where she engages the fishing community and general public on issues ranging from fisheries management to marine energy and multiple ocean uses.